Stars are Forever
by OoZolaoO
Summary: Being an apprentice isn't as easy as it seems. Aspenpaw of RiverClan has to deal with patrols, hunting, and the evergrowing threat that is WindClan and ShadowClan. Not to mention the fact that he's in love...
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

It was a dark and misty night. A river flowed slowly on its carved path. At the edge of the river, a small golden cat emerged from the cattails. The cat sat down and looked up at the starry sky above her. Softly, she whispered to herself.

"Oh, StarClan. I fear for the forest. I fear for ThunderClan, I fear for WindClan, I fear for ShadowClan, I fear for RiverClan. Our time of peace will not last long. There is a new scent on the wind; a scent of battle. Warriors grow ambitious and rival Clans look to them like territory waiting to be taken-" She stopped abruptly, looking down at the ground below her. Hopelessness threatened to overwhelm her and she curled her slender tail around her as a means of comfort.

_The stars seem so cold tonight_, she thought sadly. _Almost as if there's no life behind them…_As a sudden wave of exhaustion overwhelmed her, the golden she-cat curled up in a tight ball and closed her eyes, sighing sadly.

The she-cat opened her eyes and sat up, confused. Where was she? From the trees and darkness around her she seemed to be deep in the forest. But there wasn't very much forest on RiverClan territory, so what other Clan's territory was she on, and how had she gotten there? Automatically she looked to the sky for guidance, gasping in shock at how bright the stars of Silverpelt were. The cat closed her eyes as the stars grew even brighter, blinding her with their brilliance. After a moment or two (she felt it rather than saw it) the light dimmed and she opened her eyes slowly again, blinking them wide in astonishment as the stars began swirling together, spilling out of the sky like water off the tip of a leaf. Suddenly there was a flash of light in the clearing and the she-cat cried out in surprise, closing her eyes again. A soft voice penetrated her state of shock.

"Reedtail, you can open your eyes now." The voice was that of a she-cat, and the owner was obviously amused. Reedtail obeyed and blinked in wonder at the sight that her shining blue eyes beheld. The clearing was filled with cats whose fur shone with starlight. She was among the warriors of StarClan.

The she-cat in front of Reedtail was absolutely beautiful. Her long grey and white fur sparkled with stars, giving her the appearance of being covered with diamonds. Reedtail dipped her head respectfully.

"Froststar," she murmured, eyes shining with awe. Froststar was a legend among all the Clans. She was the leader of RiverClan until a huge fire had threatened every Clan. Froststar had given her life to save Wingstar, the leader of ShadowClan, Dawnstar, who was then Dawnheart and was a warrior of ThunderClan, and Mossclaw, WindClan's medicine cat. Every kit was told the story of the brave and beautiful she-cat.

Next to Froststar stood a night-black tom. His name was Moonpelt and he had been the medicine cat of ThunderClan until age took him. But now his full youth and vigor was restored and his eyes gleamed with humor. From what Reedtail had seen in her times with StarClan Moonpelt and Froststar were mates now.

"Reedtail, we just wanted to let you know that you should never give up hope," Moonpelt's voice was soothing and Reedtail felt her worries ease. "StarClan will always be with you."

"And someone new will need your faith in StarClan soon," another cat spoke up. Reedtail recognized Iristail, a ShadowClan elder who had died in the fire.

"Yes, someone new," Rockpaw, a ThunderClan apprentice who had been hit on the Thunderpath, added. His short grey fur shone with the light of StarClan. Reedtail looked confused again.

"Someone new? What do you mean?" she asked, cocking her head slightly. There was silence.

Froststar stepped forward again. "Reedtail, your musing was correct. The time of peace between the Clans will soon come to an end."

Reedtail sighed sadly, her excitement dulled slightly. "But, Froststar, what can I do?"

The beautiful white she-cat smiled reassuringly at the young medicine cat. "Don't worry, Reedtail." Her outline was beginning to fade, as were the other StarClan cats. "Discuss this with the other medicine cats at the half-moon, and remember," her voice was fading now, "never lose hope." And then she was gone. A nudge at her side caused Reedtail to suddenly wake up, and the golden she-cat blinked her eyes, looking around. A small silver tabby tom was standing next to her.

"Reedtail?" he asked her. "What are you doing out so late?"" Reedtail stood up, yawning widely and stretching.

"Oh, hey, Silverstripe," she mewed a greeting to the warrior. "I was just looking at the stars…I guess I fell asleep." Silverstripe seemed alright with that and turned around, going back towards the RiverClan camp. Reedtail paused, looking back at Silverpelt again with a wistful look in her blue eyes. Silverstripe noticed that the medicine cat wasn't following him and turned around.

"Are you coming?" he whispered softly, following the medicine cat's gaze. Reedtail shook her head, as if clearing it, and nodded, coming to Silverstripe's side.

"Of course," she replied, leading the way.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Aspenpaw ran along the edge of the river gorge, fluffy ginger-and-white tail streaming behind him in the strong wind. He was racing, racing to a spot in the gorge where it was most narrow. He and Icepaw had been hunting when she had dashed off towards the gorge, saying she wanted to show him something. Seeing the spot just up ahead, Aspenpaw put on an extra burst of speed. He could see a long, dead tree stretched across the gorge, and a small grey shape was perched in the center of the makeshift bridge. The cat looked up as he came nearer.

"Aspenpaw! Come look! Come look!" Icepaw leaned farther over the edge, tail twitching madly with excitement. A sudden gust of wind caused the bridge to wobble, and Icepaw swayed dangerously, struggling to keep her balance. Aspenpaw gasped as the grey she-cat slipped off the edge, dangling over the gorge below with only her front claws. He ran faster, but the log seemed to be getting farther away instead of closer. With a yowl of terror Icepaw lost her grip and tumbled down into the yawning abyss below. Aspenpaw finally reached the edge of the log, jaws open wide in a silent screech…

"Aspenpaw!" A sudden loud shriek jolted him out of his sleep and he looked around, blinking sleepily.

"Wha's goin' on?" he slurred, still half asleep. A ball of ginger-and-white fur rocketed into his side and he gasped in surprise. Thinking he was under attack, the apprentice unsheathed his claws and looked wildly around, fully awake now.

_Who's attacking us?? Is the nursery safe?_ he thought, adrenaline pulsing through his veins. A whimper of fear caused him to look down and he relaxed, sheathing his claws again. A smaller she-cat with the same coloring as he was curled up against his long fur, shaking with terror. Aspenpaw curled his warm body around the smaller cat and began grooming her ears gently.

"You're alright, Amberpaw," he soothed her. "It was only a dream, and I'm here." Under his rasping tongue and his soft voice, Amberpaw's shaking subsided and she began to uncurl. Finally, she opened her eyes and blinked up at her brother. Aspenpaw himself reflected in her stunning amber eyes for which she was named. When Amberpaw began to struggle out from under his tongue, Aspenpaw stopped grooming her and let her go. She arranged herself in a sitting position and began grooming her white chest fur in a series of quick, jerky motions. Aspenpaw realized that his sister was a little embarrassed. After all, she had just flung herself across the apprentices' den and onto her sleeping brother. Amberpaw finally looked up and met Aspenpaw's hazel gaze with her amber one.

"Thanks, Aspenpaw." She ducked her head. "Sorry I woke you up."

"It's alright," the ginger-and-white tom reassured his sister. "Was it the same dream?"

Amberpaw nodded. "Yes. Death, blood, and battle." She began quivering again at the very thought of it. Aspenpaw stood up and crossed over to his forlorn looking sister's side, grooming her ears and neck softly. Amberpaw closed her eyes and stopped shaking at once, instead beginning to purr. Aspenpaw began purring also as Amberpaw's warm purr vibrated through his fur. A moment or so of this passed until a blue-grey tom stuck his head in the den.

"Aspenpaw? Foxfire wanted me to wake you up," he began awkwardly, looking at the purring siblings. Aspenpaw broke away from his sister and started towards the den entrance, stretching each of his legs in turn.

"Alright, thanks, Shellpaw," he mewed, yawning widely and heading out into the sunlight with a last look back at Amberpaw. She flicked her tail at him, telling him to go on, that she would follow soon anyway, and Aspenpaw wandered into the clearing in the reeds that served as RiverClan's camp.

* * *

It was a lovely day, for leaf-fall, anyway. Aspenpaw glanced at the other cats in the clearing, mewing a greeting to a few as he searched for his mentor, Foxfire. There he was, on the far end of the clearing, sharing tongues with a black-and-white she-cat. Aspenpaw crossed the stretch of ground and halted a few paces away from the russet-colored tom, bouncing on his paws as he waited for his mentor. The she-cat looked up and noticed Aspenpaw. 

"Good morning, Aspenpaw," she mewed to him. "Is Amberpaw awake?"

"Morning, Raventail," he replied. "And yes, she's awake and coming." Foxfire looked up as the she-cat did.

"Oh, there you are. Are you ready to go train?" he asked, standing up and moving his tail back and forth to shake some dirt off it. Aspenpaw nodded, eyes gleaming with anticipation. Foxfire mewed a good-bye to Raventail and started towards the edge of camp nearest the river, Aspenpaw right behind him. But before they could leave, a silver-and-black tabby tom came over to the two.

"Hazelstar wants you two on noon patrol," RiverClan's deputy informed them. Aspenpaw looked glumly up at the sky. There wasn't enough time between now and then to do any training.

"Alright, Ripplepelt. Who else is going?" Foxfire meowed, touching his apprentice's shoulder gently with his tail. Aspenpaw understood it as a signal to wait a minute and see.

"Rosetail, Windpaw, Pebblefur, and Icepaw," Ripplepelt listed, eyeing Foxfire for a response. Foxfire dipped his head in acknowledgement.

"Carry on, then," he replied, and Ripplepelt left.

"That means we can't go train, then," Aspenpaw mewed sadly. Foxfire cuffed him lightly over the ear with his cream-colored paw.

"Nonsense. We'll just train later today, and hunt now," Aspenpaw's mentor corrected. "I'd bet old Sharpclaw will trade you a story if you find him a nice, plump vole." Aspenpaw's eyes lit up.

"Okay!" he agreed, bouncing on impatient paws. Foxfire chuckled.

"What are we waiting for, then? Race you to the river!" he challenged, and Aspenpaw was gone in a cloud of dust. Laughing softly to himself, the russet warrior went back to Raventail, happy that his apprentice was happy.

* * *

Aspenpaw lay quiet in the reeds surrounding the river. A tail-length or so ahead of him a young mouse nibbled contentedly on a cattail seed, completely unaware of the cat stalking it. Aspenpaw crept forward, nearly floating on silent paws. He was almost there, just a little further. 

A sudden rustle in the reeds a few fox-lengths away caused the mouse to look up warily. Seeing Aspenpaw, it quickly darted away while Aspenpaw lunged fruitlessly. Grumbling angrily he turned around and padded in the direction of the river. A foot or so to his right a little grey she-cat stuck her head out of the very reeds that had scared the mouse away.

"Hey, Aspenpaw!" she chirped happily, bounding out of the reeds and grinning at him. Aspenpaw glared at her.

"Icepaw, you scared my mouse away! I nearly had it, too," he muttered, tail twitching in annoyance. Icepaw looked crestfallen.

"I'm sorry, Aspenpaw," she apologized, looking mournfully at the ground. "I didn't know you were hunting."

Aspenpaw's annoyance vanished. "It's alright," he mewed, touching his nose to hers. Immediately Icepaw's head snapped up and her eyes glittered with humor, traces of her former sadness gone.

"Good! Let's get back to camp…it'll be noon soon!" she raced off in the direction of the camp, Aspenpaw sprinting to keep up with her.

* * *

**A/N:** Here's the beginning of SAF. I've now decided that at the end of each chapter I'll have a list and brief description of any new characters, or what we know about them so far. So here goes: 

Aspenpaw (RC): Handsome white-and-ginger tom with hazel eyes and an extra-long tail.

Amberpaw (RC): Beautiful white-and-ginger she-cat with stunning amber eyes.

Icepaw (RC): Light grey she-cat with blue eyes and overlarge ears.

Foxfire (RC): Russet-colored tom. Mentor to Aspenpaw.

Raventail (RC): Black-and-white she-cat. Mentor to Amberpaw.

Hazelstar (RC): She-cat, leader of RiverClan.

Ripplepelt (RC): Deputy of RiverClan, black-and-silver tabby tom.

Rosetail, Pebblefur: Warriors of RiverClan

Windpaw, Shellpaw: Apprentices of RiverClan

Sharpclaw: Elder of RiverClan


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Hey, look! It's back!!! -applause-

What can I say? I had an idea and continued where I left off. See characterization at the end...

* * *

Back at camp, Icepaw and Aspenpaw dashed across the clearing, nearly colliding with a tabby apprentice coming back from the elder's den. Icepaw shrieked with excitement and leapt upon the tabby's back, growling playfully. The apprentice batted Icepaw away with a large paw, claws sheathed as he charged the winded she-cat. The clearing was filled with the yowls of the mock-battle and cats at all edges of the camp paused to watch the tussle.

"I bet you Icepaw will win," a dark brown she-cat whispered to her companion, a massive black tom. The tom shook his head.

"Not a chance. Have you seen Windpaw fight? He's faster than a fish!" he replied, grooming a front paw. The she-cat's yellow eyes sparkled with the implied challenge.

"Just wait and see. Icepaw may be small, but she's a heck of a fighter."

Another cat, a small silver tabby, chimed in with his opinion. "But those ears hurt more than they help," he pointed out, sitting beside the she-cat and gesturing with his tail as Icepaw's overlarge ears threw her off balance as she dodged another blow from Windpaw. Aspenpaw was now out of the way of the rolling apprentices, backing up until he was on the other side of the black tom.

"What do you think, Aspenpaw?" the she-cat asked, cocking her head. "Icepaw or Windpaw?"

"Icepaw," Aspenpaw replied without hesitation, a little embarrassed as the silver tom looked his way with amusement in his hazel gaze. The black tom suddenly interrupted.

"Look!" He was suddenly on his feet, green eyes fixed on the tussling cats. All was quiet in the little group as they watched with bated breath. Windpaw let out a meow of triumph and now had an exhausted Icepaw pinned to the ground, eyes alight with excitement. The silver tom smirked at the she-cat.

"Told you so, Branchpelt," he teased, leaping out of the way as Branchpelt swiped at him with a playful growl.

"Don't make me pin you too," the she-cat laughed, a light _mrrow_. The black tom stepped to the silver tom's side, tail twitching.

"I think me and Silverstripe are more than a match for you and Aspenpaw," he countered, looking at the apprentice and she-cat with glimmering eyes. Branchpelt sat down, grooming her tail casually.

"We didn't want to fight you anyway, Blackpelt," she informed him loftily, winking subtly at Aspenpaw, whose whiskers twitched slightly in laughter. To distract himself he looked to the center of the clearing where Windpaw had let Icepaw up and was now sharing tongues with Rosetail, a pretty cream-and-amber she-cat who was his mentor.

"That was great, Icepaw!" Aspenpaw padded across to the little grey cat, now covered in dust. Icepaw grinned at him.

"Yeah, I'll get him next time!" she mewed, beginning to groom her large ears.

"Aspenpaw, Icepaw, it's time to patrol!" Foxfire called, waiting at the edge of the camp with another tom. Rosetail and Windpaw heard his call and stood up also, heading towards the camp exit.

"Let's go," Aspenpaw meowed, racing towards his mentor.

Pebblefur, a dusky tom with dark brown spots, paused at the crest of the small hill leading down to the river, the rest of the patrol fanning out behind him. Icepaw, his apprentice, stood at his left shoulder while Rosetail and Windpaw stood at his right shoulder and Aspenpaw and Foxfire brought up the rear.

"Is something wrong?" Foxfire asked, trying to look around Rosetail. Rosetail glanced back and shifted to the side, showing Foxfire and Aspenpaw the ThunderClan patrol on the other side of the river at Sunningrocks.

Without a sound Pebblefur raced down the hill, the other RiverClan cats behind him. They paused at their end of the river, waiting as the ThunderClan patrol lined up at their end. A black-and-white tom, obviously the leader of the patrol, stepped forward.

"Greetings, Pebblefur."

"Cloudclaw." Pebblefur ducked his head in respect to the ThunderClan deputy.

"How's the prey running for RiverClan?" Leafstripe, a pale ginger tom, asked politely. His apprentice, a leggy dark brown tom named Twigpaw, watched his every move with wide yellow eyes.

"Fine, thank you. And ThunderClan?" Foxfire answered this time.

"Quite well," a long-haired white tom replied. Whitefur's apprentice was a pretty orange-and-white she-cat who Windpaw was watching with awe-filled eyes.

"Daisypaw is cute, isn't she?" Aspenpaw whispered teasingly in his friend's ear. Windpaw flicked his tail in annoyance and slapped Aspenpaw across the face, causing him to withdraw slightly, his whiskers twitching with amusement.

"Dawnstar wanted us to warn you about a dog fox we killed on our territory yesterday," Cloudclaw continued. "His mate ran towards the river, and we think she crossed over to RiverClan territory."

"She was pretty old, though, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem to drive her away. Her mate didn't put up much of a fight," a blue-grey she-cat named Skypelt spoke up. Cloudclaw nodded.

"Thank you for the news. We will pass it on to Hazelstar." Pebblefur flicked his tail at his patrol in a signal to keep moving, and they turned as one and continued racing along the riverbank towards the gorge.

"I've never fought a fox before," Aspenpaw heard Windpaw say nervously to Rosetail.

"Don't worry, Windpaw," the cream-and-amber she-cat reassured him. "If we _do_ have to fight the fox, Hazelstar will make sure that the most experienced warriors are battling." Windpaw looked relieved.

Icepaw dropped back from her position behind Pebblefur so that she was next to Aspenpaw. "Wouldn't it be awesome, running into the fox!" she exclaimed, fur bristling with excitement.

"No, it wouldn't be awesome," Foxfire replied from in front of them, turning to eye them. "Foxes are dangerous creatures. They kill just out of spite and could easily eat a kit or kill an apprentice, if she wasn't paying attention." Icepaw's eyes widened and her fur lay flat again.

"You know what, Aspenpaw? Maybe it wouldn't be so great if we ran into the fox. I changed my mind." Foxfire let out a little _mrrow_ of laughter.

"That's the right idea," he mewed, quickening his stride so that he was even with Rosetail. The patrol stopped along the WindClan border just before the gorge to scent mark. Aspenpaw was sniffing along the line when something caught his attention.

"Pebblefur, come here!" he called, raising his head. The dusky tom came over to him.

"What is it?"

"Here, sniff on this side of the border." Aspenpaw lowered his head again. Pebblefur obliged and he immediately caught what Aspenpaw had meant.

"WindClan scent on our territory!"

* * *

**A/N2:** Windpaw (RC): tabby tom with brown eyes.

Branchpelt (RC): dark brown she-cat with yellow eyes.

Silverstripe (RC): small silver tabby tom with hazel eyes.

Blackpelt (RC): large black tom with light green eyes.

Pebblefur (RC): dusky brown (with darker spots) tom. Mentor to Icepaw.

Rosetail (RC): pretty cream-and-amber she-cat. Mentor to Windpaw.

Cloudclaw (TC): black-and-white tom, deputy of ThunderClan.

Dawnstar (TC): she-cat, leader of ThunderClan.

Leafstripe (TC): pale ginger tom with green eyes. Mentor to Twigpaw.

Twigpaw (TC): leggy, dark brown tom with yellow eyes.

Whitefur (TC): long-haired white tom with blue eyes. Mentor to Daisypaw.

Daisypaw (TC): pretty orange-and-white she-cat with blue eyes.

Skypelt (TC): blue-grey she-cat with green eyes.


End file.
